Beyond Good and Evil
by Midnight Rain
Summary: In time, there has been many who have loved, many seperated by the fate that each is on the opposite side of good and evil. Yet, when one truly loves, shouldn't that love be beyond good and evil. Beyond Slytherin and Gryffindor. To just Draco and Hermione
1. Love and Hate

Beyond Good and Evil

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**_What is done for love is always beyond good and evil ~ Nietzche_**

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_Love?__ Such a fickle emotion. You hear about it all the time, mostly with the beautiful or the wealthy. You hear that everyone finds it and that it's all around you. Every moment of everyday someone is falling in love. Someone is being kissed. Someone is escaping tha shackles of pain that had bound them by finding new love, greater love. You also hear that love has no barriers. That love knows no color, no age, no religion, and no social standard. Love is __love. Simple and true. And you wonder, what of good and evil? What of demons and angels, murderers and saints? Can two so different fall in love and truly love? ___

The quill's vigorous scratching was interrupted by a tapping at the window. Hermione lifted her head, focusing on the snowy owl that hovered outside. Rising from her desk and moseying across the polished wooden floor, she unlocked the window allowing the bird to fly in along with a cool summer breeze that ruffled through the flourishing trees. Hermione reveled in the wind, feeling it slide across her face, comb through her brown hair and whisper into her room. How good it felt to be at home, away from the hustle and bustle of Hogwarts school year, with its essays and reports. With the professors constant nagging and the picking. How she loathed Draco and his goonies for their picking. 

Hermione then turned to the owl, which feathers had frizzled up with impatience. It raised its leg, letting her remove the package. The black bird then opened its mouth, demanding a treat for her slowness. Hermione shook her head with a laugh, and placed the demanded treat in its mouth. The owl then spread its wings, taking flight and rushing out her window into the roseate sunset. 

Excitedly, Hermione tore open the package. _The Daily Prophet fell out onto her bed. She unrolled it and her excitement immediately died. It was whisked out the window by the chilly breeze that had rushed in as soon as her eyes had fallen on the headline. _Is Hogwarts finally beaten? __

What had happened overnight that had caused such a decline in Hogwarts forces? Hermione's eyes began to skim the article, fear forming in the pit of her stomach, causing her legs to quiver.

**Is Hogwarts finally beaten?**

**During the middle of the night, on November the tenth, Hogwarts was attacked. This mystery attack was unknown by the Ministry of Magic, who during the night, received a note from Hogwarts. As the Minister of Magic, Cornelius fudge said, "I picked up the letter, expecting an update from Dumbledore, because I receive one every week. What I got surprised me into shock. It was a letter from Voldemort himself, telling me how he had entered the school unharmed and now held Dumbledore and the whole of the Order under his control." **

Hermione gasped. Voldemort had Dumbledore? What was to happen now? Voldemort would surely sic his evil minions onto the world. Who would stop him with the only wizarding army that could even hold their own against Voldemort was being held captive? The world was doomed and there was nothing she could do about it but sit back and watch the world fall into peril. 

Hermione shook her head, pushing her thoughts farther back into her head and continued to read the depressing article that ruined her life and condemned her world to hell. 

**The Ministry has not yet released to the public what actions they plan on taking to acquire not only the school of many aspiring young wizards, but the family members, fathers or mothers, brothers or sisters of many of wizard and maybe muggle alike. Lord hope they find the answer soon enough to save the innocent live in jepordy. **

Hermione folded the paper, placing it on her desk. In a single hundred word article, her world had crashed and burned. How many people in Hogwarts had lost their family in the invasion? How many were still yet to be lost? 

Hermione clinched her fist, angry at her self for her hopeless state. She plopped down at her desk, staring at her diary entry. Random words jumped out at her from the page, "_Love… all around you… no barriers… falling… good and… evil… demons…" _

Hermione nearly knocked the book off of her desk. How differently her thought pattern was just moments before. Those simple seconds had changed the course of her life forever. Forever… 

~

_Hate? How it wrapped a person up in anger. How it powered that person to take such great measures unafraid of the consequences. Hate is such a raw emotion, tearing up the very fibers of the body. Ripping, contorting. How can any one love that which they can hate? Hate is so much better than love, for love withers and dies. But, hate, hate is always there. Growing, growing, till it takes over, till it rules. Hate is a cancer which starts in the hearts of men. Depriving them of joy and replacing it with deceit, greed, the lust for power. It's tearing apart the world, and yet allowing it to progress by destroying the weak and conquering the powerless. Hate ruled. And hatred in men is great… _

_~ _

As the carriage jerked to a stop, Draco sat down the book _Thriving_, which was about a man's view on the wizarding world today, about how one should feel, act, treat others. It was a book recommended by Draco's father, and that had told him a lot before he had even began to read it. He lifted his head to fixate his gaze on his mother and father, both so proud and both so arrogant. Narcissa, blond hair tied back elegantly with wisps framing her face. Her icy blue eyes set in the milky white skin made her appear heavenly, which she was far from to any one beside her loving husband and adorable child as she had called Draco since before he could walk. 

Lucius, with his pale blond hair and cold blue eyes, was a political man, who reveled in the smell of money and raised his nose at those with unpure blood. Yet, though he seemed like a hideous human being, he loved his family and cherished his wife. 

Both were dressed in embroidered silks and fur line cloaks, clothes fit for a Royal family. When the driver, Lami Hugerd, a small time wizard, working his way to Voldemort's inner circle, opened the door, Lucius swept out onto the road below. He held his hand out for his wife, who just as gracefully climbed out of the carriage. When she, in all her beauty, lace and silks, had gathered herself, they began to walk towards the school. 

Draco slipped out silently behind them, bringing his book with him. His keen grey eyes scanned the usually light filled school. Now, it was shrouded in darkness, he could feel it. He could even see it in the way the sky had grown grey, dark clouds bulging with rain prepared to fall scattered in its depths. In the school, no lights shone, though dark figures scurried on passed the windows, continuing on their evil deeds. 

He, unlike his parents, really wasn't all that evil at heart. Though one is what he has been taught, and Draco grew up on nothing but Dark Arts and the hatred towards muggles, he had acquired a little more through this school that towered over him now. He had acquired the knowledge that life was not all frozen hatred, but that it contained warmth. 

His thoughts were interrupted by his father clearing his throat. "Come along, Draco. We must not be late." With a flick of his cloak, he was off, Narcissa trailing beside him, arm looped in his. 

Draco frowned, chasing behind his parents into the school that he had known most his life and yet at this very moment, seemed so alien to him. When he entered the foyer, his family was already waiting with Voldemort's hired butler. "Now, that we can begin, I would like to say that we have changed the rooms around a little so you will now be staying in the classrooms, which have been arranged as rooms. Let me direct you to your rooms, where your stuff has already been located." 

Draco followed the man in his stiff pressed cloak and odd wording which lead Draco to believe that he was nervous. They walked up the stairs, down winding hallways lighted only by the flickering torches. The only noises were the clicking of boot heels and the snaps of silks. "This is your room, Mr. Malfoy," the butler swept his hand out elegantly to a door Draco had never seen before, _Malfoy _wasetched in black into the polished wood. "Your son's room," Butler inclined his head towards Draco, "is located at the back of your room, behind the tapestry of the curling snake." He paused for a moment. "Is there anything else you need, sir?" 

"No," Lucius waved him away. "That will be all for now." He opened the door, holding it open for Narcissa before walking into the room. "Draco, prepare your self," he glanced down his nose at his son. "You cannot meet _Lord Voldemort _looking like you just crawled out of the trash." 

Draco nodded, walking towards the wall and sweeping back the wall hanging. "And Draco," Lucius continued. "Comb your hair." Draco brought a hand up to smooth out his hair which he had begun wearing in a bed-ruffled state much to the distaste of his father. 

Without a word to the man who regarded himself as king, Draco entered his room. He sat the book on his desk, staring in the mirror. He had gained most of his father's traits, blonde hair and cold eyes, though his were grey, and he had also gained, through heredity, the ability to look like everyone and everything was beneath you. Draco opened his trunk, pulling from it a black robe, with the curling Slytherin emblem on the left sleeve and on the other sleeve, his mother had sewn Voldemort's symbol of the skull with the snake crawling out of its mouth.

Draco slipped the black cloak over his all black attire, bending over and tightening the laces on his dress shoes, which also happen to be black. Running gel through his hair caused it to slick back like he used to wear it. 

He swiftly exited the room, entering his father's where they waited to meet Voldemort. _Lord Voldemort_, he could hear his father correcting him. Ushered out the door by his mother, they began to walk down the hall towards the beginning of a change in history. A change in his life. 

~

_Is it ever going to be possible for good and evil to be entwined so closely when they live such different lives? One of sunshine and summer breezes and the other of dark shadows and swiftly scurrying silhouettes. One of beauty and one of mystery. Can they ever live together, even if they are in love? Even if all acts performed by these two individuals swept up in the typhoon of emotions are beyond evil and are beyond good and are simply matters of the heart? Can these two really survive? _

_~_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I own any of the characters associated with. Only the plot is mine or as close to mine as it can be when every story has already been written. I do hope I brought a new light to the old idea. That is the secret of writing, to write an old idea in a new way. I don't own that either. It's an altered rendition of the quote by Hammerstein, I think. **

**Dedicated to: the one who feels that love is trivial.**

**Note: that's the end of the first chapter of _Beyond Good and Evil. _So, how was it, tell me what you thought, whether or not I should continue. Any thoughts, ideas, comments and god forbid ( : P ) criticism are welcome. **

**Hope you enjoy! **

**_COME ON GUYS!!! AT LEAST TEN REVIEWS BEFORE I CAN UPDATE~! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE_**__

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	2. Protect us

Chapter two: Protect us

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**_"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable." - Helen Keller_**

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_Corruption, pain, death is all around us. A safe place does not exist in the world today. To think that you have one is childish. When it all comes down to it, to life and death, to _fate_ where can you run? Where can you hide? _

_~_

_If everything goes wrong, which way would I run? _The thought raced through Draco's head as he was lead down the hall to his impending doom or his everlasting… happiness? The only sign of this stress was his clinched hands at his side, for he would never show a weakness in front of his father. It could mean his death to uncover his flaws. 

The grand oak doors, the doors that lead to his fate, towered over him. His father pushed them open and sound bombarded Draco. The sounds of laughter, chinking glasses, and conversations. 

"Draco, I'd like you to meet Lord Voldemort before you do anything." Lucius kissed his wife on the cheek before she could wonder off to the group of the Deatheater's wives. "Follow me," Lucius began pushing through the throng of people to the front of the room. "Sir," he said politely, almost reverently as he tapped a man on his shoulder. The man turned around, green eyes landing on the young Malfoy. 

"I take it this is Draco?" Voldemort raised an eyebrow, waiting for his answer. 

Draco skimmed him eyes over the man before him in shock. Voldemort was nothing like the hideous figure that every deatheater had told him so far. _This _Voldemort looked young and alive. The man before him had bright green eyes that reminded him so much of Potter and the black hair. When had Voldemort gained back so much of his power.  

"Yes, this is my son." Lucius placed his hand on Draco's back, urging him to speak. 

"Lord Voldemort," Draco bowed, showing his respect to the older, stronger wizard. 

"Please, Draco, call me…Tom." Voldemort pushed Lucius aside, wrapping his arm around the shoulder of the sixteen year old. "Come, we have many a things to talk about." 

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_Hiding.__ To Hide. A verb. The dictionary describes this word as concealing for shelter or **protection. **Seeking safety where there is _none. _When darkness sweeps over the land and all is revealed, where can you run? Who could protect you? _

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The moon had risen, hanging in its rightful place between the cold stars. A soft breeze blew in through the window to ruffle Hermione's brown hair as she sat at her desk, book poised over her leg. She looked to be the image of serenity. 

But appearances are prone to lie. 

Inside, Hermione felt like she was going crazy. How could Harry make her wait this long for a response? Why wasn't the owl flying faster? Or perhaps, he _didn't _even respond. She closed her eyes, inhaling the cool night air. Listening to it swish through the trees, flow across the lawn, rush through her window. _Breathe. _Deep breath. _Calm…  _

Hermione nearly fell out of her seat when the owl flew through the window. She placed her book on her desk before rising to her feet. She picked up the discarded letter and watched the owl fly out the window. Flipping it over, she found that it was from Harry.. He was staying with Lupin now, but Hermione reminded herself, Lupin was being held captive. _Lord, Harry must be going through some tough time. Having lost everyone and now this? _

Nearly bursting with excitement, she tore open the envelope. Folding open the letter, Hermione began to read Harry's "chicken scratch" as Ron had named both his and Harry's writing. 

**Hermione-**

**I received your letter. Yes, I know that Voldemort is on the rise. I also know that the world is in danger. **

**So, by the time you get this letter, I probably won't be at home. I just sent it to tell you that you've been the best of friends to me. That, if I happen to die (horrible thought, I know) I will miss you. I also sent a letter to Ron. You two have been great. **

**I'm afraid I can't tell you where I went. You might follow me and I don't want to put you in that type of danger. **

**Sorry the letter is so short. Time is important when you're on the run. **

**- Love Harry**

**P.S~ Don't worry too much. Stay safe. **

Hermione frowned, folding the letter back up and placing it in her diary for safe keeping. She picked her wand up of her desk. That was just like Harry, to be the hero. Turning around, she grabbed her back pack off the floor. Well, he isn't going alone. Not this time. 

She was going to help him. 

Hermione snatched a few of her spell books off her shelf, throwing them into the bag along with a notebook and pen. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she ran down stairs into the kitchen, where she wrapped a few snacks for the road. 

Opening the front door, she paused for only a moment. The dark night made the road seem longer, scarier. With a deep breath, she headed into the nightly fog, in her heart prepared to fight the toughest of battles to help her friend. 

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_Many fear the death and long for that unreachable security. But you, Brave one, run head long into danger. You face what other fear to face. Understand that you are the world's future. Their hopes, their dreams lie in your arms. Protect the innocent thoughts of those too young to walk. Keep the lives of the youths bright. _

_What can you do to save us? What can you do to return the blanket of security to our world? _

_Protect us… _

**Note: Well, that's chapter two. Done and complete. So, the adventure begins. Two friends in the search of a future. Tell me what you thought of it! Compliments, ideas, thoughts, wishes, hopes and flames if it calls for it. (Just to tell you, this won't be my best chapter. They will improve. I've been kind of short on time lately. And stressed.) **

**But, yeah, so… review. I didn't reach my goal last time but I figured maybe if I got one more chapter out…**

**Oh, also if you want me to email you when I update tell me! **


	3. You are the Key

Chapter three: You are the key.  

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**"Life-the way it really is-is a battle not between Bad and Good but between Bad and Worse"-Joseph Brodsky**

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**Sometimes things don't work out the way you planned. It's not your fault… it's completely out of your control. Just take deep breaths, and go with what you got. Cause there's no use sitting around waiting for the day you're happy. Happiness is not a gift - it's a decision. **

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_It was that moment, staring at you as you explained my destiny that I realized that things can never be good when they flow from a corrupted mouth. I realized that power only leads to the want of more power. That death will follow close behind. I realized that good, if there is such a thing, is trapped. And that this battle is between hate and only more hatred, between sadness and only more… between dark and the darker… _

_And I could only stare as you poured out your thoughts that would sent us spiraling to the closest place to hell… _

~

Draco didn't know what to think. He didn't know what to do, how to act, how to respond to this wizard, whom he had been told would kill anyone at the flick of a wrist. Kill, without batting an eye, without the guilt, without the cause. Draco looked up into the face of a young man and saw none of this evil. 

"So, Draco, I take it you don't know why you are here?" Tom asked casually, leaning against the stone wall, glancing out the window next to him. His edges seemed to glow with the foggy light coming through the glass. 

"All I know is that I am finally of age to choose my path as your follower. Finally old enough to become a DeathEater, I was brought here to meet the man I will be serving." 

"Well, forget everything you've been fed the last seventeen years of your life. I'm about to set things straight." 

Draco nodded, not to sure what the man before him was implying. He was supposed to forget _everything? _Forget the rules of the dark powers; forget that the man before him was the strongest of them all, forget that his father groveled at the feet of a man who didn't seem that intimidating but that soon, he would too… 

"The first thing you must know is that this world is going through its turning point. It will no longer be ruled by the forces of light. This is the age of darkness and yet it is the age when all is revealed. Everyone will know of us." Voldemort swept his hand out, indicating to the wizards in the room. "Every one of those Mudbloods out there will know that he or she is a lowlier being. That we wizards and witches are… there is no word, Draco. We are like Gods and yet they still do not know of us. But they will, and you and I shall see to that. You do understand, don't you boy?" 

Draco nodded, "yes, I understand, but why am I so important? Why am I the one who will help you?" 

"You are the only one who could help. I don't know why, but the ancient texts say you are the key." 

~

_I waited for the day I would be happy…I waited for the day all would be fine and perfect in my life. It never came and I wondered why through many a dark night. Finally I figured it out…_

_~_

_I hope he's okay, _was the only thought that rushed through Hermione Granger's head. Harry had a huge head start, but she wasn't resting at all, hoping that she would catch up with him. She had road the train as far into the Scottish country side as she could. Now, her day found her trampling through the forest. 

Her breath came out in ragged gasps. Fog swirled around her feet like snakes meaning to hinder her journey. Trees and limbs smacked her in the face and arms, leaving small blood trickles. The musky smell of the forest, of the trees, of the mold seemed to fill her, overwhelming her.

Above her, birds cackled and singed their way through the day. The heat and the humidity of the forest crashed down on her like the weight of a thousand lives, like all her problems sitting on her shoulders. 

Hermione continued to run, through forest, spaces of open field and back into the dense foliage of the forest. It felt like she had been running for hours when finally she collapsed to her knees, panting. Her breathing was loud in quiet stillness of the forest. The birds were still singing somewhere off in the distance. Faint chirpings of bugs unknown to her filled her ears. She glanced around her, taking in her surroundings. She hadn't really thought the plan through when she took off for Hogwarts on foot. Was it possible to run to Hogwarts? 

She pondered the question as she relaxed against a tree, resting her tired legs. Massaging sore muscles, she stared at the canvas of leaves. Sunlight streaked through, littering the ground with patches of light. The light seemed to dance, twist, and tumble around the shadows as the branches waved, whispering. 

_It must have been close to sunset_, she thought and began to hum a soft tune. Slowly it caused her to drift off to sleep, dreaming of white knights and dragons. Fairy tale endings and rescuing those in need…

~

Harry sat next to the camp fire, warming his hands and using it to keep the monsters at bay. He had reached the Forbidden Forest. He knew it the moment he entered. It was murkier than any other forest he had been through thus far. The inhabitants were also quite different from the others. 

This was the first time he had allowed himself to sit down and truly think on what he was doing instead of focusing mainly on his destination. He hoped Hermione received the letter and he hoped she was safe and sound in her bed. He hoped Ron was still on vacation and still having all the fun he can have, without worry about what was going on here. 

Lastly, he hoped Lupin, Dumbledore and the rest of the Order were safe and alive. If Voldemort had killed them…

Harry knew in that moment that if any of them had been harmed, revenge would become his life. 

With a deflated sigh, he picked up a twig and began to poke at the fire, resting his head upon his bended knee. In the silence of the night, he heard a rustling of leaves. Harry rose to his feet, but it was too late.

Four dark silhouettes jumped from the woods, throwing a bag over his head. Instantly, he was engulfed in darkness. The only sounds he could hear as he struggled to escape were the quick rush of his breathing and the muffled pounding of his heart.

Rough hands fumbled to tie his arms behind his back and he could do nothing to stop them. A cackled laugh and then a voice, rough as if from too many years smoking, "Lord Voldemort will be pleased."

"I agree; he would have never expected such a rare treat as this to show up as a result from such a simple patrol." 

"Malik, your sentences are too wordy, usual." It was a joke Harry did not find as funny as the three men around him.

The last thing he heard before he was knocked unconscious was the cackling laughter of the three men who had captured him. 

~

_It is because I waited… Happiness is not something that comes to one. Happiness, like evil, is a seed planted in the heart that either blossoms or withers. And mine it seemed had died from the lack of attention, had died from the wait. _

_But I will feed what I've got, and this shriveled heart of mine with beat again. _

_~_

**_Okay, sorry if it seems like my chapters take longer to get out and I know they are short. But, I don't have much time to write now days, with school and all. They just cram the homework on, not caring. Lol. I've got, like, six projects. I suppose I should be working on, but I figured I would get this out, besides I'm tired of staring at all the work. The numbers, the questions, it's tiring. _**

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**_Anyway, review, they help me to keep writing. And I love them, what writer doesn't like comments on her work. _**

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**_So, have a good day/night/evening. _**

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**_My goal is 23, or if not, at least twenty before I can post the next chapter. _**

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	4. Look what I am

Chapter four: Look what I am… 

Disclaimer: nope, not mine

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**_"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd... Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death... And yet... I think... This cruelty will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again." - Anne Frank_**

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_Even when you think everything is going good, that everything is as happy as it can ever be… something jumps out at you. _

_Something ruins the peace in your tiny little life. _

_Something goes wrong. _

_You hear about it everyday, through the unsympathetic and cold television news, through the paper with words that seem to bite and lash at one's soul with the blunt cruelty. Why doesn't anyone help them? _

_Why can't someone help me? _

_~ _

_Sometimes I wonder why I think it will ever stop, _Hermione stared down at the ground filled with mixed feeling of a hatred for them and an anger at herself. Why couldn't she have got here earlier? Why couldn't she have protected him?

On the ground, amid the dirt was a sure indication that Harry was no longer free. He was in the hands of the enemy. She wasn't sure how long he had been… but she hoped she was early enough to save his life if not his sanity. 

His belongings had been left on the ground, resting against a log. The fire had been left to die out and send smoke into the air, which was how she found this particular spot. Lowering herself onto a stump, she stared into the remnants of the fire.

It was a cloudless day from what she could see through the foliage. Bright sunshine seemed through the leaves creating spots of light on the mostly shadowed earth. Birds chirped off in the distant, _as if there was anything to be happy about on this day. Her world had come crashing down, with her best friend in the hostage of the darkest wizard of all time, along with every person who could possibly _help _her get him out. _

Also, unknown to her, the world's days were about to get considerably darker too… 

~

Voldemort stood quietly, staring into the empty hearth. Though he wasn't complaining or raging, it was not unknown to everyone in the room that the Wizard before this was holding in large amount of anger. 

"And where did they say they were?" Voldemort grumbled out between clenched teeth. 

"They said in the letter that they had stopped for food and some fun," the young man who mumbled out the words appeared to be shaking in his leather boots and expensive cloak. He had obviously been put up to it by the older, far more experienced gentlemen in the room, who were cowering in the corners themselves.  

"Fun?" Voldemort turned around to eye the young man. "They stopped for food and fun? Mr. Silar and the rest of you fine gentlemen, I am entirely disappointed with your ability to acquire the best army in the land. So far we've had Goblins who eat us out of house and home, wizards who stand around and appear that my mother could kill them, and sadly the order of _whatever _expensive shipment of this secret weapon that you say I shall be happy with, has stopped for food and fun?" 

"Well Sir-" Mr. Silar spoke up but was quickly cut off. 

"Shut up, you imbecile, I was not finished. I am entirely disappointed in this whole function that you men have set up and I warn you that is not something you wish to do." 

"We never meant-"

"I personally don't care what you meant, Mr. Silar." Voldemort growled, his green eyes flashing with anger. I do know though that we are on a very _tight schedule. I need my army and if you don't get it soon I will be _very _happy to kill you." _

"Don't worry, Lord Voldemort," an older gentlemen in the corner spoke up, "we shall have your army soon." 

"You better. Now, get out of my face, all of you before I decide to kill you now." Voldemort turned back around to stare into the empty fireplace. He heard a shuffle of coats and quick footsteps retreating from his room. Inwardly he laughed at their cowardice. 

_Idiots, I'm surrounded by idiots¸_ he thought as he raised his wand lighting the fire and settling down into his comfortable leather chair. 

~

_How do you feel when someone pushes you down? When someone keeps you down? It hurts, doesn't it? Feels like you're the lowliest of lows and yet, you insist on pushing others down. Why? _

_Why do you feel the need to make others hurt? _

**_Never mind, I think I know. _**

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_You wish to hide the pain that resides in you… _

_~_

Hermione was doing once more what she had seemed to do through most of this trip, stared at her feet. Stared with nothing to but stare and hope that what she had to do would just pop out in front of her. Easy as taking a cookie of a plate, easy as blinking. 

For Hermione Granger, things had never been that easy. She always had to be the best, the top and that took work. She always had to be there for her friends, especially Harry, because he always seemed to find himself in some sort of mess never mind the crush she had on him since as long as she could remember. She had always needed to know… and all of this, it took work. 

She was constantly striving… and things always seemed just out of her reach. 

"He's gone," a quirky, much too energetic voice spoke up. Hermione raised her head to find herself staring into the eyes of a rather small man- nope gnome? Dwarf? Little person? Bright blue eyes stared out at her from amid a smile wrinkled face, covered with salt and peppered hair. He was dressed in a green tunic with small leather shoes. In his hand, he held what appeared to be a piece of cloth. "They took him, I saw." 

"What?" Hermione nearly rose to her feet, but then thought better of it. Her height might intimidate the small man. "Which way did they go?" 

"They went that way," he quickly pointed left, but thought better of it and pointed right. "Or maybe they did go that way?" he looked quizzically to the left. 

"Oh, great," Hermione muttered, running her hands down her face in frustration. 

A deep, masculine laugh resounded from behind her. Hermione quickly rose to her feet drawing her wand. The man was clothed in a similar green tunic to the one the gnome was wearing. Black hair fell haphazardly across his vibrant violet eyes. A vicious scar cut jaggedly across his right cheek, barely missing one of his beautiful eyes. "Don't worry," he was still smiling. "I don't wish to harm you, but the hands of the men you seem so eager to reach will not be so kind. I am Tavon and that little guy standing behind you," Hermione glanced behind her to seem the man waving up at her with what she could now distinguish to be his hat, "is Brynn." 

"Did you see them too?" Hermione asked, ready to get the information from the two men so she could be off to save her friend. 

"Yes, I saw them, but I will not tell you which way they went." 

"What? Why not?" Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You're one of them," She glanced behind her at Brynn, "both of you are." Though it seemed absurd to accuse the small, hyper dwarf of being evil what else would they be if they refused to give her information?

"We are not," Tavon insisted. "We are simply concerned." 

Oh? 

"We know that the world is in danger. I feel it. I read it in the stars every night, but I cannot stop it myself. Too many others are afraid of the wrath of Voldemort, but I would rather die than live in a world controlled by him and his minions. So, I will help you, but first there is something we must do." 

~

**_Be patient…patient… careful… do not rush to die… do not be eager to feel the pain… _**

****

**SNAP! **

_A blinding rush of pain shot through his body, pushing out all thoughts of sanity. He felt the blood pooling on his back, seeping into his shirt. He heard the distant laugh of a heartless soul and the ground rushed up to meet him. Hard and cold, but so real compared to this hell he was in._

**_You know why it feels so good to inflict pain, my dear boy?_**

****

_Because you are burying yours… hiding it… _

**_Because it lets you know you are superior…_**

****

**_CRACK!_**

****

_Another sharp slash ripped into him, sending a spasm through his body. His fist clenched in the dirt and he wished he could just leave. He wished he could be six again, a clueless dreamer who sat upon his mothers knee staring into the fire while she read word that made his head spin they were so beautiful…_

_That beauty was so far away, so tainted by the echoes of time…_

**_I told you, boy, not to rush… I told you the pain would only come quicker. But you're stupid. You don't know anything, especially how to fight with a sword like a pure blood. _**

****

_Which is why I let you teach me, so one day I can run my sword through you…_

**_I remember my father… He was hard on me too. Always wanting me to be what I couldn't be. Always pushing and shoving._**

****

**_And look what I am…_**

****

_Dead…_

Draco sat up, his eyes wide with the horror of the dream. He didn't know what recesses of his mind had woven it, but it was a dark part. His father had never hit him, not meaninglessly anyway. And he definitely had never tortured him like that. 

What did it mean? Draco wasn't sure he wanted to know. 

"Excuse me, Young Malfoy," a knock echoed on his door, before it was pushed open. "Your presence is requested in the Grand Hall, urgent matters. Dress appropriately." 

Draco rose to his feet, rummaging through his chest to pull out his expensive dress robe. Though you couldn't tell, it was a plain back material like all the rest with a Slytherin emblem on one arm and the Malfoy crest on the other. Draco donned the robe and slicked back his hair and he was ready for what ever surprise await him. 

But nearly prepared enough for the one that sat waiting in the Grand Hall… 

~

_So, what do we do, you wonder? Absolutely nothing. People like you and me, what amazing feats and accomplishments lying waiting in our future? _

_Then you think, have you lost your mind? _

_We may be the defining element in this whole war. We maybe the ones to set things straight… to help… _

_And all the while we though we were going to sit there and wait for our future to slap us in the face. _

_Pull on your boots, friend, we're going for a walk… _

_And it's going to be rocky. _

_~_

**Okay, I tried to make this one longer. Hope you all liked it. Hmm, I wonder what's going on. So many cliff hangers and where's Harry?? You'll just have to wait for the next installment, hopefully it won't take as long as this one to come out. **

**Dedicated to: those who reach for all they're worth.**

**Okay, at least 28, and thirty if you're very nice. Crosses fingers, closes eyes tightly and **

**WISHES!! **

**Come on guys, I have goals to meet. **

**Good day… and **

**May the road rise to meet you.**


	5. Trust

Chapter five: trust

Disclaimer: do I have to say this every chapter. 

~

**_"People who cease to believe in God or goodness altogether still believe in the devil. I don't know why. No, I do indeed know why. Evil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult." - Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire_**

**__**

~

_I trust you. _

**_You do?_**

****

_Yes, I trust you with my life and with my heart. Just please don't break it. It would crush me. _

_The girl held out her heart, held it out with such confidence, such hope. _

_~_

The path was long, winding and it cut through the dark parts of the forest. The walk took most of the day and was now cutting into the night. Hermione's feet had never hurt more in her life. Her calf muscles were sending screaming pains up the back of her legs from so much over use. The trodden dirt was lighted by a single lantern which the man in front of her carried. Bright eyes stared at them from the shadows of the forest waiting for the light to go out. The only noise that filled the space was the incessant humming of the ever constant Gnome behind her. 

Numerous times during the walk she would get the urge to turn around and hit him for repeating the same lines of a song over and over again. As if feeling her anger, Brynn would not only switch songs but run ahead of both her and Tavon. 

Unfortunately for Hermione not far enough that his annoying trill of a voice couldn't be heard. Hermione was rubbing her temples, staring at the beady eyes of what she didn't want to fathom. "How much longer until we reach our destination?" 

If Hermione had been alone and had even a remote idea as to where they were going, she would have apparated. As it was. she was stuck with a hiking trip. The man glanced over his shoulder, not ever slightly winded from the long walk and smiled. "Not much farther. Think you can hang on for a few more minutes?" 

This was a waste of her time! She could be saving Harry at the moment, saving him and escaping from this nightmare with the rest of the order. But no, she had to be on some wild goose chase with two men she didn't even know. One who wouldn't stop singing and the other who seemed to be enjoying her torment, perhaps they were Voldemort's minions. They definitely seemed evil enough and it was very plausible that she was walking right into a trap. 

~

_"Mr. Malfoy if you would please pay attention. Now class we are going over the transformation." Draco zoned out again, focusing on the trio across the room. Slowly he raised his wand, levitating the glass of some unknown fluid off the counter next to them. Glancing every now and then at Professor McGonagall as she idly wrote a few details on transfiguration. He could still remember her voice from the first day of school, ".most dangerous and complex magic you will ever learn at Hogwarts." _

_His eyes briefly traveled across the tea kettle they were supposed to turn into a kitten, but mainly he focused on the glass levitating, He was going to pour it over wonder boy's head. Having no idea what it was, and not caring, he was sure that McGonagall wouldn't miss it._

_"Mr. Malfoy! What do you think you are doing?" His concentration slipped and the container and its contents crashed to the floor. "You know very well not to mess with unknown magic and you know **not **to do it in my class. Detention for you." _

_Draco glanced down at the floor where the glass had broken, the stone had turned a decidedly ugly shade of brown compared to shinning grey, and a few layers had melted away. If only it had made it to Harry's head, where would the boy be now? _

"Uh hum," someone cleared their throat from behind him, snapping Draco out of the memory. Professor McGonagall's classroom had been warped into an armory. No longer could you see the desks, but instead piles of weapons. For the Goblins he had seen hanging out at the kitchen, Draco guessed. 

Never in his lifetime had he thought this would happen. He knew his father had talked about taking over Hogwarts, but Draco honestly didn't think it could be done. Especially not with the whole of the order sitting in one room discussing how they would bring down the dark wizard. Now look where they are, trapped behind bars. What good are they there?

Not that Draco minded, having never cared for any of them. Not the school, not Dumbledore, not his father or Voldemort, he didn't care who won. He just wanted to be on the winning side. 

Of course, that was just Draco. He had to be the best and that Granger girl always beat him. Always. and he despised her for it. Granger. He wondered what she was doing at the moment with Hogwarts under siege and the order in their captive. Perhaps she too was down there in the dungeon, fighting off rats the size of dogs with hunger in their eyes. He would definitely put _visiting the dungeon _on his list of things to do, along with _checking up on ancient texts._

He laughed, catching an odd look from the DeathEater that had been nominated the Butler. "Are you ready, sir?" Draco nodded, straightening his cloak as the man pushed open the door leading into the Great Hall. 

Nothing unusual caught his attention at first, but then a new addition to the room nearly caused him to run from the room. Hanging from the ceiling were two chain cords, which had shackles on the end from which dangled a boy. No, Harry Potter. Harry was shirtless and unconscious. His black hair hung over his face hiding numerous bruises. From the unmarred appearance of his skin, Draco figured that he had just been brought in. Next to him stood a man in black, holding a coiled whip in his hand. His face was blank as if the upcoming torture didn't bother in at all. In fact the whole room had that blissful oblivious look to them, as if they ignored it. It wasn't wrong. 

"So nice of you to finally join us, Draco," the voice was positively joyous. Voldemort or Tom stood slightly behind Harry's form, hands clasped together and face bright with happiness. "Look what these two fine gentlemen have brought me," he motioned to two men who were just happy that they had made it to Voldemort's good side. "It's Harry Potter." 

Draco could only compare Voldemort's utter glee with a child's on Christmas night as they stare at all the presents awaiting them and the fact that tonight, SANTA BRINGS MORE. It was sick to compare the innocent with this monster in front of him. 

"Draco, my dear boy, why don't you do the honors," Voldemort's words condemned Draco to hell Voldemort would experience himself. The man in black stepped forward, offering him the whip and in Draco's mind he was offering him an invitation to eternal damnation. 

Great, either way he was doomed. 

Draco took the whip, his fingers curling around the leather. He had been taught to use one, as he had been taught to use many other devices of torture, but he had never thought he would have to actually feel the whip as it ripped into skin, pulling a scream from a man's lips. 

Draco glanced back at Potter, even if it was _him._ At that moment, Harry groaned, lethargically lifting his head, hair shifting so that Draco was staring straight into the eyes of the man he was about to torture. 

~

_And he took it, but not gently and not with care. He took it recklessly, and he dropped the porcelain-like object. _

_And it** shattered **into a million pieces on the wooden floor. A million pieces of love, of hope, of care. _

_~_

Hermione sighed, stretching out her tired legs. They had stopped to rest and Hermione was all to excited to agree. "Dare I ask how much longer we have?" 

"Not much longer. It should be just around the corner," Tavon was fiddling with the lantern. From across the path it looked like the wick had pretty much used itself out. Glancing past Tavon into the darkness, she thought _it better be just around the corner. _

Brynn was back to dancing in the path, singing a new chorus for them both. It sounded like a love song, but with Brynn Hermione found that one could never be to sure. 

"_You have to kiss that fairy gently on the head. Good morning beautiful." _

"Brynn," Hermione interrupted him. "Do you think you could _not _alert the whole forest that we're here?" Hermione couldn't understand how the two men, so different in appearance and attitude could get along together. 

Before Brynn could respond, Tavon rose to his feet, "Come along, no use dawdling." They were back to walking down the never ending pathway, with the Gnome crooning some love song to his invisible fairy lover as they walked farther and farther from Harry. Hermione felt like she was in Hell. 

Hermione stared at the ground, following the two mechanically. What was she doing? This was ridiculous. She should just stop, give both the men a piece of her mind and leave. In fact, that was what she was going to do. Hermione Granger was tired of being trampled on. "Look-" she started as she raised her eyes, but the words escaped her. 

Before them was a gigantic tree, but that wasn't what had caught her attention. In the branches of the monstrous structure was a tiny building, which connected to other by rope bridges until there was so many it formed a small village, lit up by floating lights that drifted in a pattern around the trees. 

_Beautiful._

_Wonderful._

"What are we here for?" Hermione blurted out. 

"Like I told you," Tavon said, walking towards the tree. "If you were to go into the castle like that everyone would notice you and then you would be caught." 

"Well, what do you suggest I do?" Hermione watched him with interest as he slowly ran his hand down the bark. It glowed for a moment and then the tree slid open revealing a small compartment big enough for two people. Tavon picked up Brynn, carrying him inside and waiting for Hermione. 

"I have something to give you," Tavon said as if it explained everything. The door opened up again, revealing a wobbly looking bridge. Hermione carefully, gripping the rope rails tightly crossed, envying Tavon for him nimble and graceful walk across. 

He pushed open the door leading into a small cabin-like building nestled into the tree. It was a male room, scarcely decorated with earth tones. A Bow and quiver of arrows hung from a tack in the wall, on the table lay numerous daggers and resting against the head bead post was a long sword. Hermione's eyes widened, but she said nothing. 

Tavon crossed the room, lifting a small chest from his book case. Opening it, he pulled from the contents, a silver necklace. "This necklace," he began, "belonged to my mother. She was an elf, beautiful," he smiled, "and wise." He placed it around Hermione's neck, clasping it. "Its powers will help you on your journey to save us." 

"What does it do?" Hermione asked, staring down at the beautifully carved silver feather. 

"I'm getting to that," Tavon chuckled. "It alters your appearance to whatever you what to look like in your mind, but only to those you don't trust and those who have no goodness left in their hearts. So, Hermione, give your trust to no one you are not sure of." 

~

Mr. Silar paced back and forth in front of the huge Hogwarts School, staring at his watch. It was late and they still weren't here. Voldemort was going to have his head. 

He stared up into the night sky, waiting. for it was all he could do. Wait and ponder on the numerous things Voldemort and the rest of his group would do him. 

A cold wind rushed by, causing him to shiver. But the cold outside was nothing in comparison to the cold that filled him. It was the cold of impending death and this was a cold that not even his coat could help. 

~

_What does one do without heart, you wonder? _

_Many would think that you would die, but they are much mistaken. _

_Without a heart you just become cold, distant. _

_You loose your dreams, your hope, your passion. _

_And what is life without passion. _

_~_

**Sometimes it hurts more then we can bear.**

**If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace.**

**but**** we would be hollow...**

**Empty rooms shuttered and dank.******

**Without passion we'd be truly dead **

**  
--David Boreanaz - Angel" in ((Passion)) (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)__**

~

Okay, guys, here is my next chapter. I've decided to forget goals and all that. Lol. I write for fun and for those few who stick with me. 

**Scabberssucks****: _thanks for sticking with me through these chapters. It took a long time to really get started.but you kept reading. Thank you. _**

****

**Slowly c r a s h I n g: **thanks, also. I'm glad you like the story. And yes, you do have to wait, I'm not telling you what is going to happen, it would spoil the story. 

**Coz~e~ness****: **_you also stuck with me, thanks a lot. _

_Well, guys I definitely have to say this is my longest chapter yet. Maybe the next one will be longer. And Draco and Hermione actually think about each other in this one and the three stories, or well, two of them at least collide. Wonder what will happen? _

_Hermione meets Draco in the next one! Can't wait. _

_Comments, thoughts, pointers, criticism, and dare I say flames. go ahead and leave them. but about the flames.  not to hot. they do burn. _


	6. Change it all

Chapter six: Change it all

_(Maybe they'll care… )_

~

**_"You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering." - Henri F. Amiel_**

**__**

****

**_~_**

****

_Life is nothing but an illusion. An illusion of happiness, of beauty, of unreachable desires, of grace… _

_Of you._

_You, so unreachable in you ethereal beauty, so arrogant, so perfect… but I've missed you. How long has it been? A year, a month, a week, it could have even been a day. My heart knows no difference in the time. For love is not measure in hours, but in moments… and all I can remember is the last moment spent with you. _

_This life only enforces the fact that I can never be with you. You will marry rich, beautiful and hopefully with happiness. Life, you see, is so cruel to those who are not born into beauty so great that the stars wept. _

_What if we could change it?_

_~_

Draco walked calmly through narrow passages in the castle he knew by heart. A memorization that had taken him six years to be perfected with the magical maze that made up this structure's halls. The moonlight seeped through the windows, swimming like tiny pools of crystal water on the shadowed stone before him. 

It helped calm his harried insides, for he definitely did not feel like what he appeared to. 

 Never in all his wildest imaginations, had he ever thought of running out on his father and Voldemort! He would be killed, for sure. He ran over the rash decision in his mind. 

_Draco stared down at the whip, lifting his gaze to Harry's hardened one. In the eyes of his rival, he could read the hate that had manifested over the years and the knowledge that Draco probably wouldn't turn down this offer only helping to stir up the loathing. _

_"Hurry up, boy. We don't have all day," his father snapped. _

_Voldemort shot an angry glance towards Lucius. "Be quiet and let the boy take his time. Draco… this will aid you in life. Only with fear will you be able to climb the social ladder. Do you think I got here on respect, on love? You need to do this. You need to show others what you are capable of and they will fear you." _

**_Fear you…_**

**Do it! It's just Potter.**

**_Fear…_**

****

_Draco didn't know what part of him threw the whip back at the man and left the room even with his father's voice calling him back. He didn't know what part of him kept walking. Perhaps it was the small sliver in his heart that didn't want to be like the people that had stood before him, pleasantly ignoring all that was in front of them just because they wanted power. It was disgusting in Draco's mind that they would beg instead of setting out to gain their own power. _

Draco cursed his stupidity. Now he would die. He swerved into the library. Here he would sit and wait for death to come calling, for he had learned long ago, through his father, that you couldn't hide from Voldemort. 

~

From Tavon, Hermione barrowed a few outfits, which she placed inside a suitcase she could conjure when needed. She fashioned what her image would look like to Voldemort and the DeathEaters. She would be an elegant woman, mysterious in every way, with swirling grey eyes that can hold countless secrets and long blonde hair that falls around her shoulders in soft waves.  

Hermione looked down at her figure, which was now donned in a beautiful medieval type dress. With a pale creamy red satin on the bodice, covered with darker brocaded flowers, from the waist a black material flowed around her legs like dark mist. The necklace which contained Tavon's mother's power rested against her neck.

She had her plan all worked out in her mind. She would transport herself to Hogwarts, convince Voldemort she was evil, learn their plan and get out with the Order. It would be simple, she told herself. _So simple…_

~

Hope flooded through Mr. Silar's veins when three cloaked figures entered Hogwarts ground. This had to be them. This had to be the secret weapon. 

"Are you Mr. Silar?" The middle one spoke, with a cultured voice, which held no accent, but seemed to cause goose bumps to raise on his flesh. 

"Yes, that is me," he said nervously, his hands gripping and twisting together. 

All three of them dropped their hood, and before him stood three demons' of hell. Their coal black eyes showed no light or reflection, just darkness, the darkness of all they had done, of all they had seen in the eternal lifetimes. Each one had black hair and chiseled features; all held an ethereal beauty that would take his lifetime to describe. He never knew demons were this human looking, he had figured that they would be grotesque, ugly and hideously disgusting.

But what else would you use to tempt the human mind than the desire of beauty.  

"Follow me," Mr. Silar turned, a smile snaking its way across his face, a smile that held an arrogant confidence. He had told Voldemort he would get him the best fighters out there. So he had and he went through hell to get them. 

The middle demon, Gabriel, pulled from the darkness of his cloak, a dagger. Stepping forward, he shoved it into the back of the man before him. Mr. Silar collapsed to the ground. A second after words, his body began to spasm. A dark cloud rose from his mouth, entering into Gabriel's. Bending down, Gabriel patted the dead man's shoulder and whispered, "You should never sell your soul to save your life." 

When he rose to his feet, all three walked over the body and into the castle. 

~

A day passed for Draco before he could gather the courage to confront Voldemort. Standing in front of his office door was nerve racking, knocking on the door was terrifying. When he did, he wasn't met with an angry shout, but a simple, "Come in." 

Draco walked in, dressed his best as he always felt he should when talking to Lord Voldemort. He bowed before speaking. "Sir, I'm sorry about yesterday-"

"Draco, dear boy, why would I be mad about yesterday? You couldn't do it but it was also your first time. Perfectly understandable. Now, sit. I have some friends I'd like to you meet." Voldemort waved his hand and out of the shadow of the office, three men came into view. 

"Meet the triplets," Voldemort said with a happy kind of voice that reminds you a sick serial killers or psychopaths. Raphael, Michael and Gabriel," he pointed to them each in turn, but they all looked _exactly _the same to Draco. Not a mark, not a single feature to differentiate one from the next. "They are here to help you fulfill your duty," Voldemort smiled at him, actually smiled. 

Draco could tell that he wanted something. Not yelling at him, not insulting him or beating him. Playing pleasant friend.  

"My duty," Draco questioned, "and what is that?" 

"I already told you. It is you who will help me take over the world, make those pompous Mudbloods realize that there are superior beings." 

Draco's eyes fell to Voldemort's desk as he remembered that day. Voldemort had said that the ancient text had told him so. Draco had to find those documents. His eyes scanned Voldemort's office. _There! _ A pile of old parchment was lying under a book on top of a small table in the corner. 

"Yes, when do I start this mission?" Draco asked as his eyes fell onto Voldemort's again. 

"Actually, I was planning on discussing that with you later today or now-"

A knock resounded on the door, before it was pushed open. "Sire, you have a visitor. Do you wish to allow them in?"

"Who is it?" Voldemort snapped?

"A Miss DeBose, Sire." 

Voldemort paused, as if thinking. "Allow her in." 

~

_What if we could make them see what we wanted them to see? _

_What if we could warp our self appearance, change it to gain something we want? _

_What if the illusion that has woven itself about us since we were born could be changed, unwoven even?_

_Would you?_

_Out right lie to others, make them believe this tale, this false appearance. _

_Even if it means loosing others trust if they find out?_

_Loosing others love…_

_~_

Miss DeBose was a beautiful woman, who glided in as if floating. Her long blonde tresses fell in soft, curling waves to around mid-back. High patrician cheek bones, with a tinge of pink and red, cupid bow lips accompanied by grey eyes that seemed to pierce into Draco's soul. Made him feel like they knew more than the average stranger should know about him. But, she was beautiful. Beautiful in that creepy, chilling way. 

"Miss DeBose," Voldemort spoke up, obviously not as enraptured as the rest of them, "what is your business here?" 

"I wish to join you," she said softly. "I heard about your crusade to take over the non-magical realm. I would like to be apart of that."

"Why," he said slowly, cautiously. 

"Because I have always wanted them to know I am better, even when they look down on me as I walk down the street. I _am _better." 

"You do understand that I just can't trust you right away, but I will allow you to stay." 

Hermione smiled, _allow me to stay, allow me to gain your trust…_

_Allow me to rip those feet right out from under you. _

_~_

_And what if the world was entranced by your new appearance._

_So caught up in the beauty that they don't even miss the real you,_

_What will that make you feel like?_

_Will you feel lost? _

_Rejected?_

_Forgotten?_

_Is that not the base of it all…_

_That this life is a dream… and that the real you still_

_Suffers…? _

_~_

**Sorry this took me so long to get out… numerous test, homework, tests, essays, projects… School just has no mercy. Besides the fact that I'm not doing so good in that history section. I am trying though. **

**Well, hope you like this chapter. They met, although she didn't say much to him. Lol. **

**Well, got to go. Lion King is on. Lol. **


	7. deep curiosity

Chapter Seven: And so it awakens, deep curiosity 

~

**"No one in your life is with you constantly. No one is completely on your side." - Tim Rice, Chess**

****

~

****

**_So you're leaving? For good? _**

****

**_A single nod of the head, a breaking of a heart._******

****

**_You said you would stay forever…_**

****

**_No one stays forever. You should know that. _**

****

**_And I should… _**

****

**_After so many heartbreaks, so many slammings of doors, so many gone… lost_**

****

**_~_**

_Falling…Falling…Nothing above but a faint blue dot of the distant sky. Below all that can be seen is the never ending darkness, the engulfing void… my death. _

_All around, faces stare out from the darkened wall, reaching, but the invisible wall holds them back, keeps them from escaping their small prison cell. _

_The faces…their faces… they hold such pain, such anguish, such anger. _

_As I fall, flashes keep entering my mind. Draco standing over me, sword in hand and prepared to strike. Hermione watching me closely, then breaking into laughter, "Sorry, you just looked so-" and another one of Dumbledore telling me something I couldn't hear… _

_Half-moon spectacles perched on his nose and the smile that hid everything on his lips. _

_Ron…a shuffle of memories all collided into him. A slideshow of each moment they had ever shared laughing. _

_All of them, such precious memories of my life.__ Is this it? Death?  I don't understand. Where am I going? The wind keeps rushing, but the sensation of falling doesn't bother me. I feel lightheaded, but not like my stomach is in my mouth. _

_I can see something beneath me now… something pale…_

_A speck of light growing larger and larger.__ A room and the ground rush up to meet me as my feet connect to the ground. I collapse to the floor from the contact, but where pain is expected there is none. _

_I rise to my feet and open my eyes ~~~ _

Harry lifted up onto his arms, groggily wiping sleep filled eyes. When finally he could look around fully, the sight he saw wasn't as pleasant as he had hoped it would be. Before him, across the aisle was the cell that contained some of the order and Dumbledore. Harry saw that Dumbledore's gaze was focused on him. 

"You shouldn't have come here, Harry. Saving us is no task for a nineteen year old boy." 

"I couldn't just leave you here, by yourselves. Who did you think would come, the ministry is corrupted and pretty soon the world will be too. We need you guys out of here." Harry paused before saying, "Where's Lupin? Is he in there with you?" 

Dumbledore didn't say anything, simply nodded his head forward. 

Harry turned his gaze to the beaten figure that was barely even recognizable as the man it used to be. "Oh my God," Harry scuttled across to the other side of his cell on his knees. "Lupin," he whispered. "Lupin, Lupin, Lupin!" His voice got louder with each call. "Dumbledore, is he alive?" 

"For now, ever now and then we hear a ragged breathe, but I don't know how long it will last. They beat him, tortured him… He wouldn't tell them where you were." 

"What?! Why? Why didn't he tell them," Harry began in hysterics, laying his head on the cell. "It could have saved him all this pain." 

"But it would have cost you your life. Lupin knew that… He loved you, Harry." Dumbledore took in a deep breath, "I'm sorry Harry. I have to take a nap, my body isn't what it used to be." After a few minutes, Dumbledore's snoring filled the silent prison.

"I will get out of here… If only for avenging him," Harry promised, even if the stone walls and scurrying rats were the only things to hear his vow.

~

"And to your left the library," Draco said boringly. "Well, that's about it." Draco turned around. "So, how did you hear about our plan to rule the world," He asked sarcastically.

"Uh…well," Hermione crinkled her eyebrows. This was Draco Malfoy? What had happened to him since they had graduated last year? He seemed so different. He was actually making jokes. Draco Malfoy was making jokes some of which were actually funny. 

Hermione tilted her head to the side, perplexed. _Had she actually shared a laugh with her arch enemy?_ All part of the act… part of the act… 

"Miss DeBose?" Draco raised his eyebrow, "Are you okay?" 

_Snap out of it, Hermione. Answer the guy. _"Halle," Hermione smiled. "You can call me Halle. I actually heard about your plan through a friend, who heard it from… a friend." 

"Ah, you don't seem like the type of person who would be attracted to this type of project. Anyway, let me show you to your room." Draco brushed past her, heading down the hall. "Follow me." Not even waiting to see if she actually listened, Draco began, "Over a thousand years ago, when people still hung witches and feared magic, this place was founded. Amazing that-" 

"I know," Hermione interrupted him. Smiling, she said, "Amazing that the four founders would be brave enough to actually do such a thing." 

"Exactly. Well, here it is," Draco stopped in front of a door. 

"I guess I'll see you at dinner?"

"I may or may not be there," Draco shrugged. 

"Goodbye," Hermione waved before shutting the door. _Oooh__, Hermione, even worse. Flirting with the enemy. _

~

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**_Good and evil? There's such a fine line between the both of them. Some even stand with one leg on either side. Trying to mess with the minds of both, teasing, toying…_**

****

**_Friends, even really good friends could be plotting behind your back. Plotting with the enemy and how would you ever know? _**

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**_How does anyone know who truly will stick with them through the rest of life's bumpy roads. Who's to say whether the one who actually stays is the person who least expected or the one you though would be there till the end?_**

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**_~_**

Voldemort rose from the chair, walking around his desk until he stood directly in front of the three demons. "You know what I want." 

They all nodded obediently. "And I take it that you know where to find it?" 

Again all three heads were nodded. "Good, get out of my face and retrieve it. You have 24 hours." 

Voldemort turned away from them, waiting until he heard the door close behind the retreating footsteps before apparating to his room. He tired of all these stupid followers. For once he wanted someone who could get the job done, exactly how he asked it to be done without any drawbacks. Hopefully these three are the answer. 

~

Hermione snuck out of her room, walking quietly to where she knew the dungeon was located. When someone passed, she would nod confidently. That was the ticket, act like you were important and like you had somewhere to go. Seemed to be working anyway. She silently descended the stairs, her eyes falling on the entrance. When she collided with something, a flash of blonde hair and the scowl that she had come to recognize made her snap, "Watch it, Mal- I mean, Draco, so good to see you again so soon." 

Draco raised an eyebrow as he straightened his robes, "Where are you off to, Miss DeBose?" 

"I'm going… well, I just thought I would wander around a little. Get to know the building; I thought I would check out the library." 

"Right. The library." Draco crossed his arms, staring at her like he was looking through to her soul. Hermione began to think he didn't believe her. "I used to know someone who loved the library. She didn't like me too much, but I would always see her there. You kind of remind me of her, though I don't know why. You two are _completely _different. Gryffindor," Draco waved away the conversation. "Well, I must be on my way. Be careful, Miss DeBose, there are those around here that would hurt you if given the chance." 

Draco began to walk away when Hermione's voice made him turn back around, "Halle, I told you to call me Halle." 

"Halle," Draco smiled. "Be careful." 

Hermione shook her head. He was definitely not who he used to be. That or he was always nice except to those who are Gryffindor…and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Hermione laughed softly at the list. When she stepped of the bottom step, Hermione made a quick dash for the dungeon entrance. 

The hallways towards the dungeon were always dark and gloomy. Shadows played on the wall, making it easy to think someone was following you. Hideous Gargoyles and statues lined the walls, stared down at you from the ceiling. The smell as you continued to go deeper into danger only continued to worsen into a mixture of vomit, urine, spilled potions that had failed. It was enough to make Hermione gag. 

Through the foggy darkness, she could make out the door leading into the cellars. A place once used for more evil purposes than what the school had placed, a place once again reverted to its horrific past. 

She pushed open the wood door, assaulted instantly by a sick wave of the metallic scent of blood. _Harry? _

She walked into the dimly lit room, torch light flickering off the walls. Her foot hit something soft causing her to stumble. "Oh my God, Lupin…?" Hermione knelt beside him, cradling his beaten face. Her trembling fingers felt his pulse, faint but there. "What happen to you?" 

"He was beaten trying to protect me," a horse voice came from behind her. 

"Harry," she turned around to see him leaning against his bars, back facing her. It was the figure of a tired man. Tired of all the blood shed, all the hate, all the tragic loses. "I'm glad to see you're okay, Harry." 

"Why did you come?" 

Hermione looked down at Lupin's face. "I don't think this is the right time to be having this conversation." 

"It's the perfect time. It may be the last time you see me… alive." 

Hermione clenched her eyes tightly to keep the tears from falling, "Don't say that! I'm going to get you out of here." 

"How?" 

"I don't… I don't know," she whispered, defeated.

Beneath her hands, Lupin stirred. His unfocused eyes barely saw her, barely registered. 

"What are you doing do here?" A harsh voice snapped, grabbing her by the dress and yanking her to her feet. "Who are you?" 

~ 

Draco, after colliding with Hermione, continued to his destination: Voldemort's office. Knocking first, to see if anyone was in there, he pushed open the door. It was empty, like he suspected it would be. 

Walking over to Voldemort's desk, Draco began to shuffle through papers. Maps, books, random letters, notes all littered his desk and all unimportant to Draco. Where was the scroll? Where was the text mentioning him? 

Draco's eyes scanned the room, landing on a table in the corner. There! The old parchment lay, covered, but in his sight and in his grasp. He pulled the paper out from underneath the rest, rolling it open. 

He skimmed over the paper. When he was finished, he slowly placed down the scroll with shaky hands. That was why Voldemort wanted him? He would have never guessed. He would have lain in the spider's den until… 

Until it was too late. 

~

In a dark room, hidden from the rest of the castle, a creature opened his eyes. 

~ 

**_So you're sticking with me for life, you say?_**

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**_How can you ever know what fate has in store for you… for me?_**

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**_You don't believe in fate? A shake of the head and small smile, "_**_I believe I choose what to do next.**" **_

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**_Well then, please tell me how to choose not to die. _**

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**_Please tell me how to choose not leave the best friend I ever had when that drunk crashed into her on the speeding highway. _**

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**_Please tell me how to choose to tempt fate, the wicked seductress, the foolish player, the warped teacher… so many names for life…  _**

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**_Please tell me how… _**

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**_I just want to know… _**

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**_~_**

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